The Saturday Mothers in Istanbul came together for the 793rd time to ask about the whereabouts of their missing relatives and to demand punishment for those responsible for “enforced disappearance”.
Today's action was about the murder of three Kurdish businessmen Savaş Buldan, Adnan Yıldırım and Hacı Karay, who were arrested on 3 June 1994 in Istanbul. Their bodies were found a day later by villagers in Bolu, 270 kilometers away.
Since the start of the corona pandemic, the activities of the Saturday Mothers, who celebrated their 25th anniversary this week, have only been taking place online.
Members of the Buldan, Yıldırım and Karay families joined the online event as speakers alongside Saturday Mothers activist Jiyan Tosun, whose father Fehmi Tosun "disappeared" after being arrested in 1995.
Pervin Buldan, HDP co-chair, gave birth to her daughter on the day her husband Savaş Buldan was murdered.
She said: “It has been 26 years now. The killers have still not been punished. As families and as democratic forces in Turkey, we have been fighting for many years to have the perpetrators identified and convicted. Despite our efforts, the killers are still at large. We know that the perpetrators were protected by the state and declared heroes. We will continue our struggle for justice for another 26 years if necessary.”
Hasibe Yildirim, wife of Adnan Yıldırım, and Enes Karay, son of Hacı Karay also joined the event.
